Spider Lily
by girl with the sbahj tattoo
Summary: He was always told to expect the unexpected, but this was not what he had in mind. But then again, he did keep his promise... -Rated M for Adult Situations and Violence.
1. Prologue

**Spider Lily**

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><p><em>I took a sip of something poison, but I'll hold on tight. <em>

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><p>The morning was a beautiful one. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, all the birds seemed to be singing, and it was loud.<p>

It had never been loud in No. 6 until a few months ago.

After the wall between the West Block and No. 6 had been torn to the ground, everything Shion had dreamed of had come true. Well, over the past six months or so, anyway.

It had taken some time, but all the residents of No. 6 and those of the West Block had gotten used to each other rather quickly. There hadn't been any riots to speak of, and everyone looked so happy, compared to the bored and lost faces of before.

Everyone looked happy, and seemed so happy to know that they were all equal. Hell, Shion himself was happy that what he dreamed of had come true.

Well, one of the things he dreamed of. He was a young guy, there was a lot that he could dream of.

But one of those dreams was currently on hold, since the dream was off in some unknown place at the moment. He was probably out exploring the world, leaving Shion at home with his mother and his newly adopted brother.

That was just like Nezumi, though. Leave someone else to do work that he could avoid. And to think he didn't do things that benefited himself so halfassed, but when he needed something…?

There wasn't any room for Shion to fret, though. Nezumi had promised him that he would return, and Nezumi always kept his promises. How could he not, considering all that they've been through?

And He was pretty sure that kiss was a bit more than a "farewell." To him, it spoke more like "I'll be back as soon as we're both ready and make sweet, sweet love to you." Well, that's what his mom teased him about, anyway.

He thought he knew his mother, but he never expected her to be a pervert.

His life was just full of surprises, it seemed.

First parasitic bees that kill everyone, then feelings he didn't even know he had to a certain dark-haired boy, then a baby that he saved on a whim was now his baby brother.

Damn, his life was complicated. But he couldn't have it any other way, because he wouldn't have been able to grow into the sturdy person he was today.

Said sturdy person was at the market, looking for apple juice for his mother, since she assumed that she was catching a cold, and warm apple cider always helped her with that.

Why she needed straight up apple juice was unknown to him, since he could have sworn the recipe didn't call for it. It just needed apples and something else…

It didn't matter, though. Since he was there, and he was purchasing the juice. He paid the lady at the counter, and gave her a smile. As soon as he exited the stand, he made a mental note to go by the liabrary to look and see if they have any new books that he could read to Hamlet. He loved listening to Shion "act out" plays.

Shion enjoyed doing it too, but he could never admit that to anyone. It would only bring along heart-ache from the person he picked up the love from. It had been so long since he'd seen him, and it only hurt each and every passing day that he didn't see him.

It was a good thing Nezumi was able to keep his promises…

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><p><em>Fuck. <em>

Several hundred miles away, Nezumi was floating in a river, giving himself a sunburn. Did he care? Of course not. He did care, though, that his most recent wound stung in the water.

He should do his best to clean that out while he was in clean water.

There wasn't really any room to complain, though. It was his own fault he was meddling with a bear that was seven times his size, and seven times as aggressive as he was.

But then again, one isn't supposed to mess with a mamma bear…

He just had to be as stubborn as a horse. Or worse, as stubborn as a Rhino.

Everyone that was close to him was in way over their heads. That included Shion. Oh how Nezumi missed him terribly.

He would never confess to that either. He had a hard time doing it to himself, it seemed. How could he not since he had made such an impact on his life?

To say he was probably in love would have been an understatement.

_Fuck._

_'How the hell am I going to get back now?' _He pulled himself out of the water, and onto the bank, getting mud in the gash on his leg.

It was going to be a long night.

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><p><strong>Okay, I know this may seem… weird or whatever, but this is going to be a full-length fic. For those of you that are still following Something Only I Can Hear; I'm almost done with the next chapter C: It's a really long one, over 3,000 words at the moment.<strong>

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, and the Title has a meaning ;D. I hope you can figure it out…**

**And if anyone knows the name of the baby, I would appreciate it if you could tell me ._. If not, then I'm just making one up.**

**I luv you guys,**

**-Orange.**


	2. Chapter 1: Of Bulbs and Camping

_Spider Lily_

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

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><p><em>Feeling scared today; Doctors tell me to write down "I am okay" one hundred times.<em>

_I am okay._

_I am okay._

_I'm not okay_

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><p><strong>Two years later…<strong>

"Shion, you babbling idiot, Shion that's not how you plant flowers!" Currently Shion and Inukashi were out in the remains of what was left of the West Block, planting flowers on one of the many hillsides. "S-Sorry!" of course that was his immediate reply, since he saw where his mistake was and he was doing his best to fix it.

Since Shion was a very clumsy person when put under pressure, he accidently cut off the roots to a bulb with the hand-plow he was using. Inukashi saw the action and merely sighed, pulling herself off the ground just enough for her to move closer to Shion. She took another bulb out of the crate that was set between the two of them. Shion watched her closely with a curious, yet frightened gaze. She had a knack for hitting him in hopes of getting him to learn.

But she didn't hit or throw the bulb at him. Instead, she took his hand that had the plow in it and began to motion his hand into the soft earth, digging a small hole. "Like this, dofus," Well, so much for a sweet and sentimental moment between the two of them, "You were plowing too much at once, and you were flinging dirt everywhere," She showed him how to put the dirt into a small pile that could easily be pushed over the hole once the bulb was in it.

After she removed her hand from his after a few more times of digging into the earth, placing the bulb and covering it up, she got up from the ground to watch him. He was doing it right as far as she could tell. "Congrats knucklehead, you have successfully planted half of the bulbs," She was giving him all the praise, even though she was the one that did most of it since he didn't have a clue as to what he was doing until she finally showed him several hours later.

She continued to stand there for a minute, watching his every move. He was doing alright as far as she was concerned, and she turned to leave. "I'd love to stay, but I have business elsewhere," She put up her hand, giving a half-assed wave instead of bothering to wipe the dirt from her pants. It always found a way back onto her anyway, so it wasn't like it really mattered, Shion supposed. However, dust was all over Shion's face and he was _not_ a dirty person if he chose to be.

"Do you care if Shi-Shi stays another night?" He called out, just before she was out of ear-shot. Inukashi stilled for just a moment before turning her head just enough for Shoin to see her smile. "Sure, I don't mind. Just have him back by mid-afternoon," She then started to walk again until she couldn't be seen anymore.

"Shi-Shi" was Shion's younger brother, so to speak. They shared the same name, but he had his nickname and it was because of Shi-Shi that he was on this very hillside, doing something that he would have never thought of doing. The things he would do for his "brother."

One day, Shi-Shi was playing in the small garden that Shion's mother had set up not too long after the wall had been torn down (Unfortunately for them, the No. 6 officials were making plans to rebuild it.) and he simply wanted to "expand" the small garden. It started with neighbors homes then it became this: Planting bulbs to flowers he didn't even know the names of.

But Shi-Shi did. Only three years old and he already knew how to read and make simple sentences. Maybe his mother was a lot like Shion, someone who was accepted into the gifted course, but never really made it in. Or maybe Shi-Shi's real dad was part of it, and his genes were passed down to him.

It was them, amidst all the dirt and grime and heated air that a painful yet beautiful memory came to mind: If it hadn't of been for him getting into the gifted program, he would have never lived in Chronos and he would have never met Nezumi. He sighed at all the memories that they had together. There was nothing he could do about it, however.

He finally stood up after all the long hours of sitting in the same position on the ground, only moving to a new spot to plant bulbs. He still had several more bulbs to plant, but it was nearing noon and he had been out there since before dawn. Plus it was the end of summer didn't help the slightest bit. Which was strange, really, since he had always known that plants were to be planted in the early start of Spring.

No matter, they might survive through the winter, if not, that was okay. Because they could always do it over again if it came down to it.

But Shion was curious. He didn't even know what kind of flowers the bulbs would become. (If they would even live, that is.) No matter, he needed to rest and get food, and really, the rest of the planting could be put off until later. It didn't really matter at the moment.

With that in his mind, he started to walk down the hill, making his way back to Lost Town to see his mother and his dear brother. Maybe he would get lucky today and get some of the extra pie his mother made...

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><p>Nezumi was hot as hell, and his clothes were sticking to him uncomfortably. This was not how he planned to spend his afternoon. He should have been at the river, lounging around and reading his only book for the millionth time in a row. But no. Some kind of animal had to get into his food sulply that was supposed to last him for another month and eat it all. All of it.<p>

He was pissed, to put it simply. He had gathered all that food for several days, using so much time and energy, only to have something crawl right under his nose and take it.

He was too used to that for comfort, honestly.

So there he was, deep in the forest, miles away from his current campsite, setting traps for wild animals and looking for berries or wild vegetables or anything with some sort of nutrition. He could have stayed at the river where fish were at, but he didn't think of that till he was already several miles away.

It seemed that even after three years, the old goof-bag was still hanging on tight to him. Goof-bag being Shion, of course. His forgetfulness and nativity had rubbed off on him long ago, and he was yet to be cleansed of it. No one could dare blame him, however. That was how things were when one was in love. Unrequited love, that is.

Fuck fuck fuck.

He tried to stop remembering every little thing about him, but it seemed that he couldn't. It was in that moment that he tripped whist trying to forget about the white-haired boy… Perhaps it was a good thing for him to keep his face in his mind, at least while trying to concentrate.

It wouldn't stop being annoying, however.

At the moment he was tying several ropes around a few trees in a clearing, making a make-shift camp for at least three days. If he couldn't find food in that time, he would go back to the river and stay there till it was time to move out again... Chances were that he wouldn't be moving out again until he could replenish his food source, though. It wasn't exactly easy traveling in the middle of nowhere when there wasn't a town around.

He sometimes imagined what it would be like if he had lived forty or fifty years earlier, before the big war had all but destroyed the entire earth. In his travels, he had found ruins of what he assumed where old towns and cities that were much more homey looking than No. 6. He could simply walk down a street and tell what the people where like.

Is that what history meant? He had seen the word in his books, but he had never fully grasped the meaning of the word. He didn't know anything about the world except for what his parents told him at a very young age, and the old books that he collected. How he missed them.

He raised the ropes over his head, securing them in place on the tall poles that he had placed in the ground only minutes before hand. That was what he would use as his shelter: A tarp over his head that did nothing to keep him warm at night, just a bit drier than what he normally would be.

He would have to stop working before too long, or else he would tire out and it would be too late to find food to eat. It wasn't like there was much around anyway. Most animals wouldn't start being active until the fall, when they needed to prepare for the long, cold winter.

He knew all of this, of course, but he chose to ignore it since he had determined that a herd of deer were coming through this area.

How he thanked himself for keeping maps and journals of animal movement patterns. If it wasn't for that, there was just no way that he could possibly still be alive in this moment. Well, no, that was a lie. If it wasn't for Shion conducting two surgeries on him, he wouldn't be alive.

He hadn't thought of the white-haired boy in months, which was strange because honestly, Shion was a hard person to forget. He was too naïveté for his own good, he wasn't afraid to do anything, and he was a kind, gentle person. It was also everything that he could remember about his mother, even though she was long dead and he couldn't even remember what she looked like besides her smile.

Pushing forward on his pace, he tied down the tarp to the ground, making sure that it wouldn't come even the slightest bit loose. He had made sure that the ground that was below him was nice and hard, making it difficult for anyone or anything to dig through it. It had been a challenge for him to get the stakes in, but after an hour, it was in.

By the time he was done with his make-shift tent, the temperature was steadily dropping. Nezumi could feel it on his skin. The fact that he had broke into a sweat long ago didn't help, so he shivered. He would have to make do with just the tarp for now and go find something to eat so he could have enough energy to set signal traps to know when the herd was moving through.

He sighed, continuing on, full force.

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><p><strong>AN: Oh look guys, chapter one. C:**

**Thank you to a certain reviewer for telling me the babies name, and I've tried to get him… accurately into the story (But keeping the same plot) But as also Inukashi's son. I hope that no one will be confused by this, since baby Shion is Shion's "brother." To avoid confusion, I've used "Shi-Shi," as you can tell. ._. Sorry if that's lame.**

**And thank you everyone else that reviewed and alerted the story :D It all means so much to me. It really does.**

**The song at the top is "Electro-Shock Blues" by Eels. It's a really good song. Go listen!**

**I'll update soon C:**


	3. Chapter 2: Of Dreams and Falling

_Spider Lily _

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

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><p><em>Recollection brings me back<em>_; __Sad to think that it was just a fantasy_

_We'd already accepted that__; __Which many others struggled to believe_

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><p>There was no such thing as a dreamless night for Shion. Every single night, he would fall asleep knowing that his body would rest, but his mind would continue to drag him into some sort of adventure.<p>

This night was no exception.

The good thing about it was that he always knew that he was dreaming, which was a good thing for the rare time that he had a nightmare. All he would have to do was close his eyes in the dream, and he would awake. That was how simple it was, every single night.

Tonight's dream wasn't really a dream, though. It was more like a memory that he had experienced before. He just couldn't pinpoint where or where it was. It was too dark to make out anything to signify where he was.

But the lightening struck outside, illuminating the place for just a moment, followed by a roar of violent thunder. He knew exactly where he was.

He was in the house back at Chronos, and it was the night of the typhoon whose name he couldn't remember for the life of him. But the name of the typhoon didn't matter in the slightest, what mattered were the events that had taken place that night.

It wasn't like Shion could simply forget the way that he had met the only person that had made him feel truly alive. That just went to show that it was more than a dream for him, it was real and it was happening again as he slept.

His unconscious body stiffened when the dream Shion screamed out into the typhoon with all his being. He knew what would happen next, even though it was just a little bit fuzzy.

Just moments after walking back through the glass doors, he would turn around and see a boy that was his age staring at him with all the rage of a rat in a cage.

If it really been the past, however, there would have been no way for him to actually know that the boy that looked so much like a girl, was in actuality a literal rat in a cage, and there was no way for Shion to know that he had the key to freedom in his hand.

It was just the way that Nezumi looked so... Frightened. Scared. It lured Shion in so easily, too. Just like a siren in one the few mythical stories that No. 6 allowed.

That didn't matter much to him, since was like one of the captains of one of the ships that was being pulled in by the song of the typhoon and the deadly, yet frightened gaze.

And as it would have it, Dream-Shion blinked and unconscious Shion wasn't so out of it.

Shion groaned and tried to pull himself up from under the covers, but that wasn't working too well for him since muscles he didn't know existed decided just then to throb to excessive amounts. Instead of giving up before he was even ahead by laying back down on the bed, he pulled his aching legs out from under the covers and into the cool morning air, swinging them over the bedside.

He was grateful that he had somehow gotten the bottom bunk, or he would have surely fallen off the bed and into a crumple on the floor.

Instead of trying to move anymore, he looked around the room. He could hear his mother softly snoring above him, and he could easily make out the sleeping form of Shi-Shi in his crib.

If they were both sill sleeping, then he had to of either been up extremely early or had slept all day. He scanned the room again, shivering this time, in search of the digital clock. Usually the bright light from it would have blinded him, but he could see it clearly without any kind of pain coming to the back of his eyelids.

It was only forty-five past three in the morning.

He was just up early, that's all.

His mother, Karan, would be waking up in less than an hour to start baking the bread that she would be selling that day. There wasn't a point in him trying to fall back asleep, so he pulled himself out of the bed. He flinched at the cold tile beneath his feet, walking towards the small kitchenette as fast as he could so he could make a pot of coffee. That would have been a great idea, too, if his legs didn't decide to give out on him right as he took his first step.

He didn't fall though, just wobbled on his feet for a moment before trying again, only to get the same exact result.

He really had to have been out of shape if he couldn't even handle planting flowers for a few hours.

But then again, he was in the same position for several hours at a time...

Shion shook his mane of white hair, scolding himself for not being able to handle something as "pitiful" as that. 'Nezumi would have been able to do it seven times in a row...' Shion thought bitterly to himself, more so towards his lack of "strength" than to Nezumi's exaggerated ability to pretty much do whatever he felt like he could do.

He couldn't dwell on something silly like that, for if Nezumi was there he would scold him til he was certain that he would never think that way again.

Oh, the bittersweet memories that resurfaced when he thought of the dark-haired man. Shion thought from time to time if he looked any different. He often wondered if his hair was any longer (Or if he cut it off) Or maybe Shion was actually taller than him, for once. Was he skinnier? He would most likely be stronger where Shion was weak, as it was to be expected.

There was just so much that he wondered about appearance, because he just knew that his personality would never change.

Shion read in a book that wasn't destroyed along with the Wall that said that it was very unlikely that personalities changed; He just hoped that would be true. He wouldn't want to reunite with someone different than who he made a promise to. It would be very unfortunate if he did.

_dingding_

Oh boy, the coffee was ready. As he poured his first cup of the bitter liquid, a tiny squeak reached Shion's ears. He looked around slowly, since he had yet to turn the lights on, searching for the source of the squeak.

He didn't have to look very far, for something bumped into the hand that was on the counter.

Or rather, it nudged the red-eyed man to turn his hand over. "Good morning, Hamlet," Shion whispered a bit louder than he intended. He was shocked at himself, he sounded like a chain smoker, but he didn't smoke.

"Going to work with me today?" He had a bit more control that time, but his voice was still loud. The small grey mouse that parked itself on Shion's shoulder just tugged at his hair. Shion assumed that was a yes to his question, since the little robotic mouse couldn't exactly speak for itself.

The red-eyed boy merely smiled and made his way to the bathroom with his cup of coffee in hand. He would start his day the way it should be started: With a shower to clean and clear his head of what lingering thoughts he may have had.

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><p>Cold water on his face was the last thing that Nezumi wanted right now. He just wanted to sleep for days without any kind of disturbance from anyone or anything, for that matter. He had been traveling non-stop for the past forty-eight hours without any kind of break, minus the seldom five minute breaks when he absolutely had to eat something to keep moving.<p>

It wasn't like he was being followed or stalked. That was impossible, since there wasn't any way for someone to survive out where he was. He was only able to do it since he knew the way to get food from the land, thanks to the many books that he had read during his time in slums. Who knew that literature would actually come in handy, besides just having the general knowledge?

That didn't matter right now, though. He had just took a risk and jumped right into a river that was racing towards a plummeting drop with jagged rocks that were surely at the very bottom of it. But a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do, and didn't have much choice in the matter. He had to get back as soon as he possibly could.

Whilst he was on his travel, he had very little intention of ever returning back to No. 6. That place made his life a living hell, so to speak. It made him weak when he thought that he was getting stronger.

How can a person be strong when they cry for someone that was an idiot and got themselves killed in the process of trying to save someone who was better off dead anyway?

He didn't have time to think of that now, though. He was quickly approaching the drop that would decide if he was to live or die.

His leg still ached from the battle with the Mama bear, and that was so long ago. (To him anyway.) If he was to ever make it to No. 4, he would have to get it checked out.

If he survived the fall, that is.

Nezumi had mentally prepared himself for it long before he even considered jumping in the the raging current. It was his nature to make sure that he was prepared for every single thing that ever crossed his path.

He had only failed in that category once, so to speak.

There he was, kicking his legs as hard as he could to get a grip on a rock or something so he could fly off the rocky ledge the way that he wanted to. The moment he left the water, his adrenaline would spike to a high enough degree that he would probably have the ability to fly, making the whole idea that he needed to fall to the bottom redundant.

But no, he was certain that he would fall off the ledge.

His clothes were sticking to his body very uncomfortably, along with the two mice that were tucked away somewhere in his worn leather jacket. No matter what happened to him, they would be safe. That was for sure.

Nezumi was breathing hard, gasping for breath every time the cold water splashed in his eyes. If he hadn't of cut his hair short, the hair would have surely blocked his line of vision and would have made him suffocate. But now it was a lot like a certain white-haired boy's, just a bit shorter and a hell of a lot more damp at the moment. He was sure of that.

It is true that if he wasn't able to see that he was about to crash face-first into a huge tock, he wouldn't have been able to prepare himself the pain that would have came tenfold. But he did see it, and as he thought he would, he slammed into it at full force.

That didn't stop him, though. The river threw him from side to side, trying to drown him in the freezing November water. All his clothes were wet and if he didn't get out of them soon, he would soon contract hypothermia and surely die, since there was no body heat where there were no humans.

Another quick memory flashed to the front of his brain: The memory of when he and Shion had first met. He had said to the (at the time) Brown eyed boy that humans were warm. That meant they were alive. It was still that way, and it would always be like that as far as he was concerned.

'Is this what they call _'Life flashing before your eyes?_'' Nezumi thought as his foot was caught by a small rock that sent him underwater for just a moment.

_'If so, my flash is delayed,'_ Even when he would probably die, he could still make jokes for himself.

His life must have only consisted of one thing, then, because they only thing that he could think of as he got ever so closer to the fall was himself and Shion during the very short months that were lived in the slums in the small apartment that was the most comfortable size for Nezumi until Shion decided to go do something stupid like questioning his government. But really, Nezumi was glad that he did that. It showed that Shion wasn't like every other brainless goon in the damnable city that he hated.

It gave him hope, to say the least.

Hope that maybe one day he could get revenge on the place and maybe show Shion that the world wasn't all rainbows and butterflies. The world was cruel, neither of them were some sort of special exception.

He could remember the way that Shion slowly realized how horrible the world really was.

But he still found a way to add the butterflies and rainbows into the evil that was dubbed No. 6.

It irked Nezumi. It was frustrating that he had the image that No. 6 was the root of all evil for the century, and some kid just has to open his window up on a stormy night (A night that he was supposed to die, no less) and shows him that not everyone and everything was as bad it was made out to be.

If Nezumi could of sighed at the thought, he would have. But he couldn't, because he was hurling towards the cold surface of running water at God knows what speed, to either death or accomplishment.

Who could really say?

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><p><em>Summer Of 91'<em> by … And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

**(A/N)**I meant for this to be a hella lot longer, but when I thought about it.. It's just best for the next chapter (Which I have started on, by the way) The next chapter will be seven times as long as this.

And seven times two is fourteen so that's fourteen-thousand words you're looking at ;D

By the way, I haven't edited this because I wanted you guys to have something to soothe you until I can get the next chapter in lol.

If you don't mind, please review. I really appreciate the nice comments C: /hearts.


	4. Chapter 3: Of Photographs and Tardiness

_Spider Lily_

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

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><p><em>And I can tell just what you want<em>

_You don't want to be alone_

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><p>It was because of that damn storm.<p>

Yeah, that was a good thing to do. Blame all his problems on something he couldn't control: Mother Nature herself, a wild and dangerous deity but oh so beautiful. Just like the women that roamed the Earth, really.

It wasn't unlike Nezumi to blame every little thing on Mother Nature (it was her fault anyway.). It was her fault that his hair became brittle and his fingers and toes froze in the middle of the night, long after the warm flame went out.

She would spite him regularly, it seemed. She just had to choose the time when he needed meat to freeze the grass the deer fed on for several days, making it inedible so they wouldn't come into his trap. Then, just to really piss him off, she practically made it rain ice.

She was a bitch, to put it bluntly.

He didn't know when the rain finally stopped, though. It had to of been sometime in the middle of the afternoon the next day, because had lost all track of time thanks to the cloud cover. And the lack of light. It was tormenting, not knowing what day it was or the time or where he was. Frustrating. Annoying.

He hated it.

Nezumi would deal with it, though. It wasn't like she didn't provide for him or anything. She put the clothes on his back and the tools he needs to survive. She herself is one hell of a craftsman when it comes to natural beauty in the world.

The trees and the flowers (Even though they are a rare site in the place he's in.) and the flowing rivers with the fish swimming aimlessly in the water, only concerned with food and reproduction. If only human life could be that simple.

Humans have to have emotions, thoughts and ideas. Humans couldn't be as simple-minded, going based off of instinct like the other animals out there. There had to be something extra there, something that made the brain function in the way it does.

'I wonder how animals see us?' The dark-haired boy wondered to himself, sometimes. He had read a book once where a monkey developed some sort of monkey autism and could understand basic human language and functions. He could read third-grade reading books and write all the basic words that are only five letters long.

Of course, the book was fiction and written right before the world went to hell with The War and all. Back before the Babylon Treaty was needed to make humans that were so fixated on power and money and complete control. So really, Nezumi could say that the author was a genius of his time. He still could be, if he had survived the initial war.

He probably had a lot going for him, too. That book was apparently a best seller, written by some "American" as they called it back then. Now the "Americans" are simply citizens of No. 3.

No. 3 isn't nearly as advanced as No. 6 was (since it is no longer a number, but a place as far as his knowledge extends.) and has the highest crime rate along with the obesity. It's the lowest in test scores and the lowest for the elderly.

That may sound like a bad thing, but they are free to pretty much do whatever they want there. They don't have to live in underground cellars filled with books from floor to ceiling in a place where you can get mugged just for stepping outside of your own home. (Despite the high crime rate.)

They don't live in a false utopia, to say the least.

It didn't really matter much, because he was nowhere near No. 3, nor would he like to be. He was only about thirty or so miles away from the outskirts of No. 6. If he was to go there now, it would take him maybe five days to get there. Not very far, considering everywhere he had been in the past two and a half years of his life.

He remembered just six months after leaving Shion with his promise to return (Which he will indeed keep) he ran into an animal he had only read about: A live bear. Even living in the forest for the first twelve years of his life, he had never seen one up close and personal before. Just in the books and stories his mama had told him as a young child.

He had seen deer, wild pigs, wolves and all sorts of animals like that, but never had he seen something so large and intimidating as a bear.

He was in the mountains, minding his own business (Since there was no one out there anyway.) when he saw it: A ball of brown fuzzy fur that was moving only slightly.

God forbid he ever use a word like it, but he could almost call it "cute" if he wasn't such a hardass. Due to his curiosity he simply wanted to get a closer look.

But he got a bit too close.

Of course, the one time he decides to do something peaceful without any kind of worry of getting a bullet to his brain, he becomes careless.

It wasn't the first time to had to put up a fight, to make a long story short.

He had gotten closer to the ball to find that it was indeed a little bear, playing with a stick. (Stick as in a good sized branch.) He was caught off guard at the playfulness of the bear. His mama had always made bears out to be ferocious creatures that weren't to be messed with.

The bear saw him, though, and proceeded to egg him into playing with him. Nezumi didn't see any harm in it.

And it was harmless. He was enjoying himself until he saw a shadow come over him and a roar that would have made anyone else piss their pants twice in a single moment and vomit with fear.

That was when he remembered his mama's stories and that's when he knew he fucked up. Big time.

He didn't escaped unfazed, though. He's still sporting a large scar on his leg that came from none other than mama bear's giant, razor sharp claw. He was lucky for just that, though. Stronger men wouldn't have even left the short lived fight they had.

Sometimes he felt the only reason why he was able to survive that was because he had been shot before, multiple times. (That's what he told himself, anyway.) There's nothing like the pain of being shot.

To him, being shot was a simple feeling. The bullet rammed past the skin, into the muscle and hit the bone where the impact would spread around his entire body, but feel comfortably numb at the point of impact. Well, after the first few times, anyway.

Then again, he was more or less concentrated on everything but the gunshot wounds when it happened, so his memories on what it felt like on being shot was a bit hazy to say the least. It was rather difficult when watching the person you care deeply for take another life when it is unlike them to even consider handling a weapon.

But it happened. They were both alive, but it did happen, and he would never get the memory out of his head.

It was all in the past, though. And not even he could change that fact.

Nezumi was currently traveling south, back towards the region that No. 6 resided in. There wasn't anything there for him (Besides a certain white-haired boy.) to go to since his real home, the home of the forest folk, was burned to the ground. There was his great library that he could go to finish, since he had barely put a dent in it during the time he lived there. Nezumi could also pick up being an actor again. It wouldn't have been that difficult, since he could recite all of Shakespeare's work by heart.

He honestly had no idea was he was going back to the God-forsaken place. He hated there, and it was surely crawling with scum and ignorant rich people that hadn't worked a day in their life. Just because the wall was taken down doesn't mean anything.

Of course, he could be wrong. He had Shion as an example of that. Maybe he was just being biased on it. He was working his way back, wasn't he? And to think he hadn't even seen the world.

He had met a few people, surprisingly. They were all famers who lived in the dark and saw him as a strange, "high-tech" being. They had to have been. He didn't break it to them, though. That would just crush the illusion that they had of the world they used to live in.

"They took my daughter away years ago on some sort of hunt," An older lady had told him one day when he was seeking refuge in what he thought was an abandoned building. It must have been one of the first man-hunts, before they started killing people. Or maybe her daughter was a recruit for No. 6's society. Nezumi's mama had told him about them before...

The old woman showed him a picture of her alleged daughter. In the picture, she looked to be around his age. She wasn't ugly nor pretty. Her hair wasn't in any sort of fancy style, and she was wearing minimal makeup on her face. She was average, if that's what someone wanted to call it.

For whatever reason, the woman insisted that he take one of the copies of the photo when he getting ready to leave. "So you won't feel so lonely," She said, making it the only reason why he took it. That and because of her pestering. He had never caught the girl's name, nor the woman's.

No matter, he hadn't really looked at the photo much since it was at the very bottom of his worn out rucksack beneath what few clothes he had, food, and general equipment. He had looked at it once for a few moments a few days after he left the old woman and her family.

The woman had told him what her name was, but it escaped him as he looked at the photograph. It looked like what was considered a "school" picture. The back ground was blue and all that was seen were he shoulders and head along with what he assumed was a school uniform. She must have been a high school student, if his knowledge from books were correct.

As he said before, she wasn't ugly nor pretty, but just average. She might of had someone who considered her attractive, but he had no way of knowing that. This woman was probably dead, and probably has been since before he was even born which would make her age somewhere around forty or so if she was alive.

But from the way the war had escalated, she was most likely indeed no longer of this world.

Nezumi sighed at that thought; How easy it was back in those days for a person to live their life. It hadn't been simple for him, either. He was forced to grow up, running every day from the hell called No. 6. The officials, the so called "Peace" officers... all of it. He couldn't trust a single soul.

He grunted out loud at his building frustration. Here he was, going back to the said hell. Why on Earth was he going back? Sure, he promised Shion he would come back, but why right now?

He stopped walking on the dirt path he was currently traveling on. The birds were out and singing their melody, and the trees surrounding him rustled in the morning wind. Small animals were scurrying around him, gathering food and playing.

Why couldn't he just stay here and forget about his promise? When he was here, there wasn't any kind of running. There was plenty of food and shelter, and no one would ever dream to come out here. As far as the world knew, he was dead. Only one other soul (Well, two if you count that girl Safu.) knew he was actually alive.

He would honestly love to keep it that way.

He silently trudged on, though. Even after being apart for two and half years, Shion still had his fingers curled around him, leading him to where he was.

Nezumi would keep his promise.

* * *

><p>Shion ended up arriving late at "work."<p>

He wouldn't have been late if his mother hadn't "suggested" that he do a little bit of cleaning before he left. Since Shi-Shi had spent the night the last few days, there were a few toys scattered around the small hard-wood floor and a few puddles of God knows what. How had he not noticed them before?

He did as she asked (What else could he do?) before she insisted that he have a full breakfast for that morning. He did his best to inform her that he had already eaten, even though it was a blatant lie. He just couldn't stand to be late for work, especially with everything so tense right now.

He ate his breakfast as quickly as he could without his mother giving him a side-ways glance that said "Hold your horses."

Right when he was about to head out, Karan said that she had something to do that afternoon, so she couldn't take Shi-Shi back to Inukashi. In turn, that meant that Shion would have to wake the sleeping child and gather his things (Since Karan was too busy with her own work.) and then take him over to Inukashi's hotel.

Shion was annoyed by the situation, really.

When he arrived at his work-place, no one said anything to him about how much he was really late. They just greeted him, handed him some files that needed to be reviewed, then sent him on his merry way. Well, merry if he was in a good mood. Which he was not. Not in the slightest.

The few manila folder files that were handed to him were superficial and pointless, really. They had nothing to do with the environment or the current police force or anything to do with the new stucture that No. 6 held.

All they contained were records that didn't even matter, for they ancient texts, recorded before the Babylon Treaty. They should be in some child's textbook, not steadily piling up on his desk.

He sighed at the absurdity of it, even though there was nothing he could do about it. He had been kept in the dark about what No. 6 had been doing for weeks now, even though he was considered a high ranking official. He was too soft-spoken to say a word about it, however. Shion simply thought it was something that the other high-ranking officials were doing.

Shion was certain that wasn't true, even though he told himself that every day now.

He sighed once again and looked at the clock that rested against the white-wash wall of his so called "office," Lunch was in an hour and a half, but he would not be eating today. Instead he would mull in the files that were piling up on his desk and collecting dust, going through them and giving his "seal of approval" before they were filed away, never to be seen again.

This wasn't what he had in mind when he was asked to become a scientist for the "betterment" of No. 6. He expected something a bit more... Adventurous, working in his preferred line of work. Ecology.

For a while, it was that way. Granted he worked behind a desk for a while, trying to gather all what was left of the information base of No. 6 since the motherboard was mysteriously destroyed. (Thanks to his truly, and Nezumi.) That didn't exactly take a long time since the high-tech city had low-tech back ups, (Otherwise known as the dreaded filing system.) and thanks to the wonderful invention invented years earlier, it was easy to scan the documents and put them back into place. (Even though the majority of criminal records were eliminated. Hence why he had his job now, being a major criminal and all that jazz.)

The white-haired boy was happy about his job for a while, too, until he began to realize that he would probably stay stuck behind a desk for the rest of his life at that rate. He had never technically graduated high school (Even that much was still in tact of the records.) and he was too old go back now. The only reason why he even had his job was thanks to his IQ.

And even then, it was a burden.

So there he was, two years later (Even after being told he would have a job in his expertise.) sitting behind a wooden box with compartments, staring at a computer screen.

Shion leaned back in his uncomfortable computer chair. He looked just above the computer and at the doorway that allowed people to come in and out of his cramped office. Hamlet was resting on top of the monitor. Sleeping, Shion assumed.

He had boxes filled to the brim with papers, stacked against the wall and up to the ceiling that would eventually be sorted then put away in a place where they would never be seen again. Well, maybe a thousand years from now, when the world had all but ended and some person stumbled upon the dry filing room in search of fire-wood.

That would be the fate of the paper boxes, and probably to Shion, too, at this rate. Maybe he would spend his entire life, day in and day out, in the constricting room. It seemed that's what he pondered on when he was too frustrated with himself and those around him to do much else.

He then sat up straight in his chair, his hands falling against the keyboard as he stared at his computer screen for hours on end, browsing through digital files that he would never look at again.

* * *

><p>Shion didn't look away from the computer screen until he looked down at the corner and saw that it was several hours past regular people's bedtimes. "Damn," He said softly to himself, his voice hoarse. It wasn't like him to lose track of time like that, nor to realize that it had gotten dark outside.<p>

He leaned back in his chair again, this time staring at the ceiling above him, resting his eyes and tired brain. Looking at meaningless files for hours on end can really take a lot out of a person, it seemed. His eyes were felt strained and his body felt uncomfortably numb. There wasn't any telling how long he had sat in the chair in the same position.

Stretching a bit, he felt something small scurry up his torso and onto his shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me it was getting late?" Shion lowered his slender arm and placed his index finger in front of the little grey mouse that was perched on his shoulder. The little grey ball merely chirped and ran across his back to his other shoulder.

If there was one thing that cheered Shion up (Even if only a little) it was Hamlet. The little fuzzball had always been there with him, ever since the decomposition of the wall. "I bet mom is already asleep..." He said aloud, to no one since he was probably the only one in the building. (Minus Hamlet, of course.)

He straightened in his chair after he figured he had enough of a stretch, then he shut down the computer. He didn't exactly have to gather his things since they were all still in his bag from that morning. He pushed his chair in, grabbed his shoulder bag, cut out the light and stepped outside.

The hallway was eerie to him without anyone (presumably) there. Sure, he had the hallways before anyone was hired to work there, but that was different when he was used to seeing people scuttle up and down the hallways from his office window when the blinds and door were open. Of course, that was also during the day when people were awake and working.

He walked slowly down the dark hallway, since it was only after a few meters that a light was actually on for him to see. He had never realized exactly how long the hallway was and how quiet a busy place could be when no one was there. He could hear the rhythm of his footsteps and the ringing of silence that accompanied the darkness.

When he was nearing the end of the hallway (or what he thought was the end of the hallway.) a lit room on a branch hallway caught his eye. Surely no one was still there...?

He stopped walking for a moment, contemplating if he should go see if anyone was still there, or if someone was simply too careless to turn out a light. He stepped off the course of the main hallway and onto the branch one.

When he was only ten feet away from the doorway, he heard a voice that made him stop in his tracks. "... It has to be done." The voice he heard was urgent. Pleading.

There was a pause, making Shion hold his breath. He was never one to eavesdrop on someone's conversation, but he had been so bored recently, and this was the department directly across from what he "supposedly" did, the ideology department.

As far as Shion knew, they mostly dealt with new ideas and plans for the betterment of the city. They would help new organizations and businesses and help No. 6's city government. They were also the direct link to his measly paycheck, too.

"Look, I kno-... Yeah but-..." The owner of the voice sounded desperate, "Okay. It'll be done... Yes, okay. Goodnight," He heard the snap of a phone closing and a long sigh being released. Shion then heard what he assumed were papers rustle and the squeak of an old rolling chair.

The white-haired boy released a breath he forgot he was holding, then high-tailed it out of there when he determined the person wasn't going to say anything else.

When he got to the house, he found it empty and cold with only a note from his mother notifying him that she was spending the night at someone's house and would be back early the next morning. He glanced at the clock for a moment. If morning meant early enough to start baking bread, she would be there in an hour or so, leaving him with a few short hours to rest before he had to get up again and go back to his workplace.

He took a short shower and eased himself into bed after that, thinking for a good half hour about what the person was talking about. It could have been about anything, really. It could have been about his daughter's birthday party or his wife's vase that he accidently broke. Or an affair. Or anything else that his mind could ponder on in the short moments before sleep took him over.

But in the back of his mind, a red flag was waving frantically, even though fatigue overtook him before he could register it.

* * *

><p>There was no possible way that Nezumi could ever fully express his deep, undying hatred for walking in the rain. The moisture would seep in through his boots, soak his socks and make his feet feel so shriveled that he would feel like he was walking on feet that were two sizes too small. The same feeling would happen to his shoulders (Since his superfiber cloth couldn't exactly prevent rain from doing it's earthly good.) only they felt like they would cave in on him at any moment from the shivering he did.<p>

And his face. Fuck his face. The rain would always make his nose feel like it would freeze off and his lips were so chapped, he couldn't even open his mouth they were so dry. His ears would get so cold that he could pierce them multiple times with a dull needle without him feeling it.

Well, perhaps that was an overstatement, but he did hate the rain when it was cold out.

That was the exact reason why he was in an abandoned building (No farmers or strange women trying to give him photographs of unnamed girls here.) that leaked only a little bit. He was curled up in a quilt that somehow managed to avoid being eaten by moths or be used as a nest for various animals. Granted, it smelled a bit musty but it was big enough to be used as a padding against the harsh stone flooring. He didn't mind though. He had slept in worse conditions.

The place he was currently in looked like it was a school of some sort, because he found an electric heater that used gas to operate. (which he was extremely grateful for.) and didn't take up much space.

There were chairs littered around the place when he came in with a few desks stacked on top of some of the chairs that hadn't been turned over. A few stacks of books where here and there giving the place a spooky look. The walls were bare and what he guessed was called a "black board" was at the front of the room that he was sleeping in.

He didn't pay too much attention, though. He was more or less concerned with getting his body temperature back up (Which is hard to do when there isn't another person present.) and food in his stomach. He had gone hours without eating and he was famished. He didn't normally go so long without eating like he did this particular day, but he found it very difficult to open a can of beans when he was doing everything in his power to keep dry and warm.

He wished someone would tell him that was a piece of cherry cake.

Heads up: It isn't.

But he had already eaten his can of butter beans, he was warm, and he was reading one of the books that were laying haphazardly around the room. It was an literature high school textbook from twenty or so years ago. It wasn't that hard to tell when he glanced at the pictures of the teenagers that were giving their best fake-smiles with horrible fashion sense.

Horrible to him, anyway.

The stories contained in the book were very interesting, though. He had never heard of some of them before, so he indulged himself for a few hours.

There was always something about Man's struggle to find what was good and bad always amused Nezumi. Especially from that time frame when the world was constantly at war and everyone had to watch their backs (Much how Nezumi does now.). The tale he was reading actually happened, though. (There was a twist, however.)

It was based in America, only one hundred years after the place became its own country. It was a story of love, betrayal, greed and justice. The story itself was based on what was called "The Salem Witch Trails."

The story itself was wonderful, in his opinion. The leading male role was one he found enticing. He was determined to get the truth of the matter out in the open for all to see. Much like Nezumi himself had not too terribly long ago. Alas, in the end, he was killed in a shameful way that wasn't fitting for his character.

But he accomplished much in the short amount of time that he had to do it in. Even after his death, many discovered that the whole nonsense of the witches was only child's play and put an end to all the hangings that were had.

It was upsetting to Nezumi that the man couldn't live to see that people out there did come to their stubborn senses. He died because of their said stubbornness, unwilling to get off their high horses to see the truth.

That was okay, though. For even after that, many lives were saved. Such as the life of his wife and unborn child. It was sad, but at least his legacy would live on.

Nezumi thought about that for a long while after he put the book away to turn in. What about him? He was the last of his kind. He had no way to have his blood-line or name to continue on. It didn't bother him too terribly much, but for a guy that was reaching a close on his so-called adolescence, that saddened him a bit. To think of all the relationships he had, not one was meaningful to him.

None in the arms of a woman, anyway.

He had many "relationships" during his time at the west block. He was only twelve when he lost his virginity for food, just so he wouldn't starve to death. To a man who's face he wished he could forget from time to time. He did many favors for women for money, food, and everything else he needed. He did so with men, women, the old, the rich… All of them.

They weren't always gentle, either. They took what they wanted from him, gave him what he needed and he would go on his merry way. The first few times of it happening, he felt cold and hallow on the inside. It eventually built itself into a wall of

Any of those that tried to get close to him were killed before they could (Not by his hands, however.) even think about reaching out to him. They didn't try to fall for him, though. They fell for his body, which was graceful and slender.

He never cared for them, though, for they all were nothing but a means to what he needed to survive. If it meant selling his body to greedy and lustful hands, so be it.

He never felt anything for those who took him to their bed, even after they tried to tell him they loved him.

He knew much better.

The only reason why he was able to endure all of it and not feel a thing for any of his so called "lovers," was because of the white-haired boy who dared to call Nezumi a friend.

It was all thanks to Shion that he survived the abuse day after day, knowing that he would see him again one day. That's how it was in the beginning, at least. He wistfully assumed that being away from him would end the spark that he felt deep inside of his chest.

However, it was true the feeling was buried away, deep inside him for the longest time, forgotten.

But then he saw him again. He saw how Shion made him feel like he was really alive, and he had a purpose for living. He had to repay his debt to Shion for saving his life. Sure, he did it with a much added interest, but how can someone repay their life, per se?

Nezumi sure didn't know. But that did not stop him from being somewhat attracted to the boy. And oh how he hated it. To think that he told himself daily "Do not get attached. Do not let him into your life" only to completely ignore his inner thoughts. Somewhat, anyway.

Nezumi sighed (Another thing it seems he has ignored.) deeply and looked out the broken window that he used to get in. The rain had finally stopped, but he still felt cold. In more ways than one.

* * *

><p><strong>AN Eh, first off: Yeah, a bit Nezumi-centric going on. Sorry, I feel the need to develop him more than Shion right now lol.**

**Second: I bet a lot of you really hate me right now for not having it the length that I promised. But there is a reason: My ovary imploded not too long ago, school has swamped me (probably the reason why my ovary decided to spontaneously implode lol) and I kinda have been busy with a social life and jazz. I wanted to get this to you guys New Years Eve/Day but that didn't happen, and I am sorry.**

**I didn't want you guys to wait anymore than you really had too, so I promise I'll have the other 9,000 words in the next chapter (I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.) which you will probably get a lot sooner since I'm trying to keep my updates at least once on a month (Chapters are short now, but they will get lengthy. I proooomise.) instead of a month and a half. And when summer comes I'll have an update even more often than that. Yay. C:**

**Anyway, Merry Christmas/Happy Hanakuh/Yule/etc for those of you who celebrate anything (even though that was a week and a half ago.) and I hope all of you have a wonderful 2012! :D**

**-Orange**

**PS: Sorry for the bad song :( I couldn't think of anything else. If you don't know it, it's What You Know by Two Door Cinema Club. Tis a good jam, you should read it!**


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